bowel habits

A 5th step to being healthy is to be aware of our elimination schedules. Our body is not designed to eliminate every 2-3 days, or once a week or twice a month. We are suppose to “go” within an hour or two after every meal. This means when we eat breakfast we should go within 1 to 2 hours after this meal. After lunch, we should be “going” 1 to 2 hours after this meal. After dinner, we should be “going” 1 to 2 hours after this meal. When we eat dinner at 6:00 pm, we should be “going” by 9:00 am the next morning. This elimination schedule is important. Each time we “go”, the stool should be formed–about 12 inches long and about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter. We would call these “healthy poops”.

If we are eating 3 meals a day but only going to the bathroom once a day, this is when we start to get that build up on the walls of the colon. This is when we can become quite constipated. After a time, we feel gassy and bloated. We will start to have some digestive disorders.

Our colon is a very important organ. We would do ourselves a favor to keep it as healthy as possible. The healthy way is to eliminate properly every day and be on a healthy schedule.

The symptoms of gas and bloat usually occur after eating. One can eat a small meal or a large meal and get that gassy/bloated feeling. It is usually very uncomfortable and can be embarrassing as well. You may wonder how this problem comes about.

Often, we do not combine our foods correctly. That is, we put a starchy food and a protein food together at a meal. Let’s say you are having breakfast and you decide to have eggs (protein) and toast (starch or carbohydrate). Putting this combination together causes gas. Maybe a dinner choice would be rice (starch) and beans (protein) which also causes gas. These are just two examples of putting protein and starches together at the same meal. Of course there are many other combinations that can cause the gas and bloat feeling as well. Learning what combinations work best for your digestion system can be a real education. We need to practice food combining with our meals to eliminate that gas and bloat feeling.

Another cause of gas would be drinking liquids with our meals. The gas comes because all the liquid we just drank with our meals is preventing the stomach acid and the digestive enzymes to break down the food properly. The large amounts of gas that occurs from drinking the liquid with our meal will cause bloating in our abdomen. Our abdomen is usually swollen at this point making us look like we have over-sized abdomens.

Sometimes, certain vegetables and fruits will give us gas. The individual needs to determine which vegetables or fruit might be causing the problem. A food diary is a good way to keep a record of what we have eaten and how our body has reacted to the foods. Becoming aware of the foods we eat that are causing the gas and bloat is the first step in understanding our digestive problem.

Mary

Call me with questions about gas and bloat or to set up a colonic appointment to get rid of this problem. 616-456-5033